Innovative Apartment Design: One Gesture, Touch or Word to Change Function

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Innovative Apartment Design: One Gesture, Touch or Word to Change Function
Original Modern Personality Displayed by Casa ST56 in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Add The Ocean-Inspired Iniala Beach House To Your Bucket List
Family Fun: Modern Backyard Design for Outdoor Experiences to Come
Would Buying This Glazed Waterfront Designer Villa Make You Happier?

Posted: 10 Jun 2014 07:28 AM PDT

How do you imagine the apartment of the future? Compact and functional? Elegant and spacious? Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab’s Changing Places team has one realistic vision on future apartment design – an innovative living space named CityHome. This concept evolves around movements and an intuitive space, where everything has its place but can easily transform its function with one gesture, a touch or even at the sound of your voice.

This innovative apartment design bends and flexes according to your needs and no heavy lifting is required. American engineers of MIT have come up with a viable solution that makes 200 square feet is enough space to live within a busy city.

This modular apartment of the future transforms with a simple hand movement. The built-in sensors, motors, and LED lights help transform the box into an “apartment in the box” including a bed, a dining room table, cooking surface, a closet, and even multipurpose storage. Captured all in one box, this space-saving solution is not only fit for small apartments but also for larger spaces that need that extra square foot. Motorized and (too) easy to use, the CityHome system is (still) just an exploration of what can be achieved with the knowledge, technology and creativity we posses. We’ve seen this idea to reshape our surrounding on Le Blog Design and just had to share it.

Do you think it is easier to live surrounded by gesture-intuitive, voice-activates flexible furniture? Tell us in the comments below.

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Original Modern Personality Displayed by Casa ST56 in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Posted: 10 Jun 2014 04:40 AM PDT

Located in a neighborhood in the South Zone, a province in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Casa ST56 by Epstein Arquitectos is the embodiment of its owners’ contemporary living dream. Two visually distinct volumes are merged into one, creating an exterior facade that surprises no matter what the standpoint. From the street level, the house appears relatively sober, while the opposite side is much more inviting, as it opens up towards a swimming pool and a garden beyond. Modern exterior finishes such as concrete, wood and stone build an original modern personality.The focal area of the entire project is an open plan living and dining space which extends outdoors, with the swimming pool and lounge area. This outdoor entertaining space has a vibe of its own, inspiring a perpetual holiday feel. It is especially here that the architects played with geometrical shapes and patterns, creating a unique social zone. Seven vertical steel pillars artistically frame another smaller swimming pool, cleverly envisioned as an intimate relaxation spot. See any other details you find appealing?

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Add The Ocean-Inspired Iniala Beach House To Your Bucket List

Posted: 09 Jun 2014 11:59 PM PDT

If you’re in the market for a new exotic beach locale to fall in love with, look no further than the Thailand’s Iniala Beach House. Located in Phuket, a city famous for its spectacular beaches and world-class scuba diving, its ocean views will leave you drooling. But, the modern interior design by architectural studio A-cero takes things to the next level. By playing with colors and shapes, designers Joaquin Torres Arquitectos and Rafael Llamazares have found a way to have the beach's waves relax you inside and out.

The hotel's complex is comprised of ten villas. Two rooms of which were designed by A-cero. The rooms stand side-by-side and share a sizable pool. Both are intentionally shell-shaped to remind visitors of the sea. Arquitectos and Llamazares explain their architectural design choices as follows:

"Both [villas] play with each other and we tried to achieve the opposite interior design between them. In the first room, the vertical lines flow introducing into the sight of the visitor. In the second room the curved lines move horizontally embracing the space around. It is a game of vertical and horizontal lines that wrap the space. Looking for the 'ying & yang' and different sensations for each other."

This level of attention to detail continues in the interior as well. Each piece of furniture , including a head bead that is sculpturally attached to the ceiling, features heavily curved lines in order to mimic the waves that are just steps away. Additionally, they are all made of a high quality polycarbonate to minimize the appearance joints and painted a white color to maximize the reflection of natural light. Not that light is likely to be at a shortage since both the dining area and master bedroom offer floor to ceiling windows that show just how close the villas are to the sand.

A-cero’s desire to let nature dictate design extends beyond the guest rooms. Aziamendi, the hotel’s 3-Michelin-Star restaurant, is a glass box that’s meant to allow diners to fully immerse themselves in the beauty of their surroundings. The painstakingly-designed wood panels used for the ceiling to simulate the movement of waves and to highlight the motion, the floor has been designed with light wood while the ceiling is dark wood. Even the restaurant’s chairs have been upholstered in a specific shade of light green velvet to mimic the local vegetation.

With this level of care put into choosing the interior design elements, just imagine the customer service. Are you ready to pack your bags and head to the Iniala Beach House?

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Family Fun: Modern Backyard Design for Outdoor Experiences to Come

Posted: 09 Jun 2014 12:12 PM PDT

Mindfulness and relaxation are both part of a balanced life, especially when your backyard design composes a modern background for everyday life. A lot of creative and hands-on work went into building this stunningly contemporary backyard. Each of the teams helped shape the design: COS Design imagined the layout, Signature Landscapes created the manicured gardenscape, Serenity Pools built a welcoming swimming pool and Frameless Impressions chipped in with the glass work.Measuring 66 feet wide and 26 feet deep, this backyard was meant to take the edge off, to be an oasis of relaxation in the city. A sharp backyard design was intended for the whole family – the couple and their four children – to enjoy either as a social space or a private outoor cocoon.

Just a few words are enough to describe the spaciously inviting private heaven in Melbourne, the photos captured by Tim Turner Photography will do the rest: “The large Stringy Bark deck is the same height as the internal floor which leads to the built in BBQ and wood fired pizza oven, while providing ample room for entertaining it maintains a constant flow effect. The glass pool fence by Frameless Impressions offers safety while remaining non obtrusive to the area. The raised pool and spa provide not only functionality but add a visual feature throughout the landscape. The great use of raw materials and exposed steel adds great character and depth to the project.”

Outdoor relaxation is really important. How do you spend your summer days in the garden?

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Would Buying This Glazed Waterfront Designer Villa Make You Happier?

Posted: 09 Jun 2014 08:39 AM PDT

Captivating the eye with its natural beauty from behind a glass wall, the Mediterranean Sea was the anchor needed to convey the feeling of freedom inside this spectacular six-bedroom waterfront designer villa in Mallorca’s Santa Posa region. The Malgrat Islands appear from water in the distance, while greenery surrounds the sun-kissed architectural elements. Mother Nature offers inspiration for everything around us while making sure we come back to her again and again.

It comes a day when you have to use Father Time’s gift on yourself. Embarking on a visual adventure over the magnificent Aegean Sea, this south-facing panoramic villa has its own invitation to enjoy water in the form of a dark blue infinity pool.

Rising in an exotic location between the port of Puerto Adriano and the Nautical Club Santa Ponsa, the 420 square meter luxury villa occupies a 1,250 square meter lot. Open and closed terraces connect the gleaming indoor spaces with outdoor bliss on all of the three floors. Pure white interiors meet aqua blue reflections of the sky in the sea, blessing the luxurious villa with a comforting, unique atmosphere.

Following an open plan, the villa welcomes you with a social area where white sofas around a coffee table and a dining table seating 10 blend in with the purity of its overall appearance. Blue dining chairs break the monotony, mirror the outside color palette and hint towards the unexpected black, white and chrome kitchen design. Five bedrooms and an additional staff bedroom on the lower level make up the private spaces, all elegant and colored by the view. The basement level was reserved for a spa and wellness area complete with sauna, Turkish bath, and Jacuzzi. Underfloor heating ensures cozy comfort while the hardwood and marble floors beautify the open space cluster. And there is also room for 2 cars in the garage – can you find anything else you need and isn’t here?

Spotted on Home Designing, this Mallorca waterfront designer villa is for sale with Mallorca Gold. So if your home buying budget rises to 4,800,000 €, enjoy it and send us a photo of your favorite view!

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